May 13, 2017
Complete Results
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation Max Tchoutakian probably won't forget this day anytime soon.
After walking the stage to receive his diploma during Saturday morning's graduation ceremony, the Baylor senior helped the seventh-seeded men's tennis team defeat 26th-ranked Cornell, 4-0, and advance to the Round of 16 for the 15th time in the last 16 years after missing it last season.
"I'm super excited about going to Georgia again," Tchoutakian said of the final site for the NCAA Championship, where the Bears (23-7) will face 10th-seeded Texas (21-8) on Thursday. "I love playing there, I love the courts. . . . Last year was hard. We had a couple player issues. I'm glad this year is completely different and we're actually pretty good and we can hope to do really well in the tournament."
Tchoutakian got his day started a little earlier than most, being one of the 77 Baylor student-athletes who graduated this weekend.
"I was supposed to go at 2:30 today, but since we were playing I moved mine to 9," he said. "That was such an amazing experience for me, because we don't have that in France. And my parents are here, so it's even better."
Coach Matt Knoll said he couldn't even imagine "how special it must be for a guy to graduate and play in the second round of the NCAAs and have your parents here (from France) for the first time."
"What a special opportunity for him," Knoll said. "You can't replace guys like that, to see how he's developed and who he is now and what he brings to the table. I'm just really happy for him. There's no question he's going to be a huge success whatever he chooses to do."
Playing "much better" than they did in Friday's 4-0 opening-round win over Lamar, the Bears got the doubles point on the board in quick fashion with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Sophomores Jimmy Bendeck and Johannes Schretter cruised to a 6-1 win over Lev Kazakov and Davi Volfson at No. 2, then Tchoutakian and freshman Bjoern Petersen clinched it with a 6-3 victory at No. 3 over Jose Rosas and Bernardo Casares.
"We started off in doubles really good," Tchoutakian said. "We were all pumped and we came out with a lot of energy, and that helped us a lot throughout the singles."
Cornell (22-4), the Ivy League champs, certainly didn't go away without a fight. Kazakov and Colin Sinclair won first sets at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, and Chris Vrabel went to a first-set tiebreaker against Petersen at No. 4 before falling, 10-8.
"Those guys are good tennis players," Knoll said of Kazakov and Sinclair, who was leading Schretter, 6-3, 3-2, when the match was decided. "I'm biased, but I thought we were going to win both of those matches. Those guys posed some problems for us, which is great. We got pushed outside of our comfort zone a little bit, but we responded and continued to battle. It was a good day for the Bears."
At No. 1, 15th-ranked sophomore Juan Benitez took control early and never let up, running Volfson off the court, 6-1, 6-2. Bendeck, who sat out Friday's match, got the Bears on the brink of the victory by beating Casares in straight sets at No. 6, 6-4, 6-3.
Tchoutakian turned his match around in a big way at No. 2, winning the second set, 6-3, and taking a 1-0 lead on Kazakov in the third set after losing five games in a row in the first set.
"The first set, I was playing really short," Tchoutakian said. "I wasn't that nervous, but I was (hitting the ball short), and he was just ripping every ball and making a lot of winners. And he was serving really well. Coach told me he was serving like 90 percent of the time on my forehand, and I started to move a little bit on my right on his serve every time, and that really helped me a lot through the second set and I was ready to battle in the third set."
He didn't have to, though. Will Little took care of that, clinching the team win by beating Pierto Rimondini, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 5.
"For me personally, it just means the world to me, because I fought so hard in the offseason to get back," said Little, who missed most of last season with a back injury. "I could have easily quit, but I decided to put my head down and just keep working. So, this today means a lot to me."
Back in the Round of 16, Baylor gets a Texas team that had to rally to beat 29th-ranked Tulane, 4-3, in Austin. The Bears have won 10 of the last 11 and 19 of the last 22 matches against the Longhorns.
WACO, Texas -- The seventh-ranked and seventh-seeded Baylor men's tennis team earned a spot in the NCAA Championships Round of 16 with a 4-0 shutout over No. 26 Cornell Saturday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
The win advanced Baylor (23-7) to the Round of 16 for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons and the 17th-time overall in program history. The victory also gave the Bears their 11th shutout of the year and ended Cornell's season at 22-4.
In doubles, the Bears cruised to a victory in the opening point. First, the 84th-ranked pairing of Jimmy Bendeck and Johannes Schretter downed Lev Kazakov and Davi Volfson, 6-1, at the No. 2 spot. To clinch the first point, Max Tchoutakian and Bjoern Petersen bested Juan Jose Rosas and Bernardo Casares, 6-3, on court three.
In singles, the Bears repeated their dominance from Friday with three straight-set victories to clinch the match.
At the top of the lineup, the 15th-ranked Juan Benitez downed David Volfson, 6-1, 6-2, to put the Bears up 2-0. Playing his first singles match of the NCAA Championships, Bendeck dispatched off Casares, 6-4, 6-3, on court six. To clinch the victory, Will Little bested Pierto Rimondini, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 5 spot.
NOTABLES
- Baylor advances to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons and the 17th-time overall in program history.
- Baylor is 55-18 (.753) all-time in NCAA Championship play.
- BU is 17-1 in second round matches.
- The Bears are 11-2 in home matches in 2017.
- Baylor is 26-0 when hosting first and second round NCAA Championship action and 28-1 all-time in NCAA matches in Waco.
- BU is 19-11 in doubles points and 18-1 in matches when winning the doubles point this year.
- The Bears are 3-0 all-time against Cornell, but got their first win under Knoll against the Big Red.
TOP QUOTE #1
""I think anybody that was here yesterday saw that we played much, much better today. It wasn't just getting through, it was playing better. We know that we are going to have to continue to raise our level, and I was really proud of the guys for coming out today and just playing a much better tennis match." - head coach Matt Knoll on the victory
TOP QUOTE #2
""It's a focus issue. You know it was just a matter of focusing a little bit better, executing a little bit better, moving a little bit better, taking their time, being in their routines, doing all the things we talk about all the time, and just doing a better job of it. And I thought across the board, just a much, much better tennis match." - Knoll on how his team raised its level
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will now head to Athens, Ga. to compete in the NCAA Round of 16. The Bears will face No. 10 Texas (21-8) on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET.
To stay current on all things Baylor Tennis, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorMTennis.
